King Elementary 2155 Yew Street Road • Bellingham, WA 98229

360.647.6840 http://wadeking.bellinghamschools.org

http://wadekingpta.org wadekingpta@gmail.com

March 2018

A Note from the Principal

Dear Wade King Families,

5th grade is a buzz with activity as students put finishing touches on their Exhibition projects. The Exhibition is a Unit of Inquiry within every Primary Years Program school. Not only is the Exhibition an amazing learning experience for our students, but it serves as a summative assessment of our entire International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. Students use the elements of the program to engage in their own inquiry and take action based on their new learning. At Wade King, the Exhibition falls under the transdisciplinary theme, “How We Express Ourselves.” The central idea for the unit is “Ideas, beliefs, feelings, and values are expressed when people align themselves with issues, movements, and causes.”

The Exhibition started in January with a field trip to the Gates Foundation to learn how others have taken action to change the world. Then our 5th graders started working in collaborative groups to inquire into a topic of interest, research relevant facts, craft an issue statement, and plan action that supports their issue statement. This week, 5th graders started acting as guest teachers in Wade King classrooms, sharing their learning and the action they are taking because of it. All their hard work culminates in next week’s Exhibition Night. This event is open to the public and gives everyone a chance to see all the topics, via presentation boards and short talks by the students.

These are some issue statements from Exhibition groups.

• Strip mining can harm animals, humans, and vegetation

• Poverty in India

• Homelessness in the school system needs to be addressed

Mr. Cornelsen said, “I hope the Exhibition helps students become passionate about making a positive change in the world.” His quote reminds me that the Exhibition is an excellent example of a practice that helps promote our motto, ‘Developing children who will change the world.’

Please consider joining us on for the Exhibition Evening! Wednesday, March 21st

Wade King Elementary School 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Stephanie Johnson

Principal

Upcoming Dates

3/1/18 YETI Finals for 4th Grade 1:30-4:00pm

3/1/18 Kinder Registration Begins

3/8/18 PTA Meeting in library

3/9/18 No School for Students

3/12/18 Kinder field trip to Mt. Baker Theater PTA Sponsored

3/14/18 Author Tracy Hecht Teaching 4th & 5th Graders about Writing at 1:15pm

3/14/18 4th Grade Poetry Event 4:30-5:15pm

3/15/18 Dress Rehearsal for Talent Show 12:45-3:00pm

3/16/18 Talent Show 6:30-8:30pm PTA Sponsored

3/21/18 5th Grade Exhibition 6:30-7:30 pm

3/23/18 Art Enrichment: Guatemalan Weaving PTA Sponsored

3/26/18 Musical: Anansi – 2nd Gr. Rm 8 at 1:50pm

3/27/18 Musical: Anansi – 2nd Gr. Rm 6 at 1:50 pm

3/28/18 King Singers & King Consort Concert from 6:30-7:30pm

3/18/18 PTA Spring After School Registration Begins Online

3/29/18 Art Enrichment: Guatemalan Weaving PTA Sponsored

3/30/18 1st Gr field trip to WWU Chemistry Dept. PTA Sponsored

4/2 to 4/6 Spring Break – NO SCHOOL

.

Wade King Chinese

New Year Celebration

One of the ways we develop international mindedness amongst our students is by learning about the Chinese Culture. Every year, we celebrate Chinese New Year as a school community and invite families to join us. This year’s celebration was on February 15th. It included 5th graders presenting our three Chinese Dragons and playing musical instruments and our 4th graders leading our singing. Shizi the puppet made his annual appearance as well, with a little help from Mrs. McMeel and student Chelsea Li.

Kindergarten Registration Has Begun!

Do You Know A Child Who Will Be In Kindergarten Next Fall?

We offer a full-time kindergarten program at no cost to district families. Students attend kindergarten on the regular elementary school schedule from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Children must be 5 years old before September 1st to attend kindergarten. To find out more about registration and required immunizations, please visit bellinghamschools.org/kindergarten.

Wade King’s Kindergarten Open House will be in the afternoon on Thursday, May 24th.

Our Annual Talent Show is this Friday!

We hope your family is able to join us for this evening of talent. Come watch Wade King students as they are risk-takers, sharing their unique skills and talents with our community.

Friday, March 16th at 6:30pm We hope you can come!

Stay Connected to Wade King

Wade King Web Page

Wade King on Twitter

Wade King Elementary Facebook Page

Wade King PTA Facebook Page

Wade King Music Facebook Page

1st -5th grade parents – Read daily Agenda messages with your child!

2018 National Geographic Bee

The Geography Bee is a national competition sponsored by the National Geographic Society to encourage the study of Geography. Twenty-One Wade King students from the 4th and 5th grade chose to participate in the Geography Bee at Wade King. The Bee was held Wednesday, January 11, 2018 in the cafeteria. There were six participants who made it into the final round; Henry Fry, Lily Connot, Claire Hickey, Jessa Parfet, Katie Knies, and Slater Hawk. Slater Hawk prevailed in the championship round against Katie Knies.

In the Bee, the students learned how to listen carefully to oral questions, determine the best answer, speak into a microphone and how to remain calm during the final rounds in this challenging competition. The questions are on U.S. Geography, Oceans, Cultures, Continents and World Geography.

A sample question is below: 1. Which state is located east of the Mississippi River?

Michigan Colorado

The other qualifying students not yet mentioned above were; Koen Mathey, Emery Samuelsen, Emma Warner, Finley Whitehead, Izzy Riemann, Jina Thompson, Logan Wiley, Madeline Merriman, Ryan Sanders, Matthew Sanders, Olivia Aven, Rebekah Peterson, Sophia Bettin, Jackson Rogers and Laura Webb.

Jessa Parfet, Slater Hawk, Henry Fry, Lily Connot,

Claire Hickey, (not pictured: Katie Knies)

March Harvest Item

The March Harvest of the Month is grains and will be served on Wednesday, March 28th in our school cafeteria. The school lunch that day will include Pasta Salad.

It’s a great day to try school lunch!

Congratulations to all who participated!

Volunteers Needed As part of our schoolwide unit of inquiry into Guatemala, students have an opportunity to try their hand at weaving on Friday, March 23rd and Thursday, March 29th with the support of two artists from the Whatcom Weavers Guild. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade will be making cup rubs and students in 4th and 5th grades will be making bags.

Here’s How You Can Help! 4 volunteers PER CLASS in Grades K-2 2 volunteers PER CLASS in Grades 3-5

Friday, March 23rd

8:00-8:40 Foote Howard

8:40-9:20 Denton Hall

9:20-10:00 Livezey Russell

10:00-10:40 Wermus Fleenor

10:45-11:25 Gutierrez

12:10-12:50 McColl Tipton

1:05-1:45 Niva Cornelsen

Thursday, March 29th

8:00-8:40 Merz/Samuelsen

8:40-9:20 Anderson

10:00-10:40 Feeney/Donnelly

10:45-11:25 Mitchell

A Volunteer Training Session will be held on Thursday, March 15th at 1pm in room 30.

Please email our IB Coordinator, Ruby Linscheid or Jamie Monsef if you can volunteer for this unique and creative opportunity.

Wade King Bike Rodeo Friday, April 13th, 2018

Friday, April 13th will be an exciting day for Wade King students! All 1st-5th grade students will be

participating in a bike rodeo sponsored by Everybodybike, RRAD and Fuel up to Play 60. We need support

from families to make this day successful! Our community sponsors will bring a few loaner bikes if your

child needs one! We will also have strider/balance bikes for non-riders to start on.

• Please bring your child’s bike and helmet to school on Friday morning, April 13th. (Please make sure

the bike is in good condition and air is in the tires.) Have your child bring his/her bike to the side

of the building near the gym. The bikes will be lined up by teacher outside. Please write your

child’s name and teacher’s name on masking tape and attach to the bike and helmet. We will have

masking tape ready to go at school as well.

• Check the schedule below for your child’s participation time. Please try to pick up his/her bike

anytime after their participation to make dismissal easier, but please let your child know you are

taking their bike.

• We need 12 parents to volunteer with the Everybody Bike staff (4 parents for each time slot).

They will let you know what to do. We need volunteers for 8:00am-9:45am, 9:30am-11:15am and

11:00am-12:45pm. Please email our PE Teacher, Tim Carlson, if you can help. You can also contact

him if you have questions.

This is the schedule if you would like to come and watch!

Bike Rodeo Times Teachers

8:00-8:45 Fleenor/Anderson

8:30-9:15 McColl/Wermus

9:00-9:45 Niva/Livezey

9:30-10:15 Feeney/Donnelly/Merz/Samuelsen

10:00-10:45 Mitchell/Howard

10:30-11:15 Cornelsen/Foote

11:00-11:45 Denton/Gutierrez

Students in Rooms 1 and 3 will participate at some point during the day. Check with your child’s teacher for the

time. If your child has his/her own “vehicle,” please bring it inside the school and park it outside his/her classroom.

Thank you for supporting the

Wade King Bike Rodeo! We

appreciate your patience with

drop-off and pick-up on April 13th

as it will be busier than usual.

Wade King Staff

With the support of our PTA, we have many activities for students to engage in during recess, and classrooms have many materials for students to use during choice times. As a result, students are not able to bring toys (or fidgets) to school unless they have made arrangements with their classroom teacher ahead of time and in that case, those items must stay in the classroom. This includes stuffed animals and Pokémon cards. In the last week, there have been several upset kids who have made trades that they then regretted, and they are spending time trading cards rather than eating lunch. You can reference our Family Handbook in our Student Agendas and on our school web site for more information about our schoolwide toy policy. If you still have questions, both Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Gutzler would be happy to connect with you.

An Important Reminder TOYS AT SCHOOL

Lost… And Not Yet Found! .

Last week, Maude and Emily took

action by reorganizing our Lost and

Found. Thank you!

Be sure to check out our Lost and

Found rack for articles of clothing

that your child is missing. It is also a

great idea to put your child’s name

on the tags inside sweatshirts and

coats. If there’s a name, we are

usually able to get it back to your

child